Schools Group Calls on New York Lawmakers to Up Funding By $2 Bln

A coalition of education groups, including teachers, parents and school administrators, urged Albany on Thursday to give school districts more money in the 2015-16 state budget now that the economy has rebounded and the state has a multi-million dollar surplus.

The New York State Educational Conference Board said lawmakers should increase school aid by $1.9 billion in the next state budget, adding that schools are getting less money now than they got before the 2008 economic downturn.

The basic aid to schools, known as foundation aid, has been frozen for years. And under a measure implemented in the depths of the recession, known as Gap Elimination Adjustment, the state withheld more money from schools to help plug New York’s then large budget gap. Districts are also getting squeezed by a property tax cap.

Bob Lowry, with the New York State  Council of  School Superintendents, said New York schools are falling behind.

“So many educators say they fear their schools will never again be able to offer the opportunities students in the past had,” Lowry said.

New York State Association of School Business Officials Michael Borges said many schools are owed around $250 million dollars in unpaid claims for computers, bus transportation and other items from as far back as 2010. He suggested a portion of the multi-billion-dollar surplus from recent bank settlements could pay those expenses.

But a spokeswoman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo ruled out this idea. 

“The governor is committed to utilizing the settlement money in a fiscally responsible way, including one-time allocations to replace aging infrastructure, rebuild upstate cities and help local governments cut costs and lower property taxes,” said Communications Director Melissa Derosa in a statement. “What we won’t do is use this one-shot funding to satisfy unsustainable and short-sighted special interest demands now with no plan to pay for it in future years."

The legislature in the past has been willing to increase school funding, but the groups face a bigger obstacle in Cuomo, who has said that spending more money will not necessary improve schools and students’ performance.

The $1.9 billion dollar amount the education groups are seeking does not include money to fulfill a 2005 court ruling that said children were being denied their constitutional rights to a "sound basic education" because of inadequate funding. In order to comply with the court order in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, schools would need another $5 billion dollars.